Decolonising Australian History Education

Fresh Perspectives from Beyond the 'History Wars'

Rebecca Cairns,Aleryk Fricker,Sara Weuffen

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2024
• ISBN:
  9781040049075
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: History of Education

This book is the first of its kind to showcase a range of fresh and expert perspectives on decolonising history education in Australia. The research-informed chapters by First Nations and non-Indigenous educators and scholars provide guidance on applying practical strategies for decolonising learning and teaching, and moving beyond the 'history wars'.

History has long been the most contentious area of education in Australia. This book tackles the narrow and overtly politicised 'history wars' debates and foregrounds the need to re-examine impacts of settler-colonialism on Australia's history. First-hand knowledge and much-needed teaching practices are presented, demonstrating how decolonisation can be put into action through Australian history education. The chapters present a range of perspectives from the early years right through to higher education settings and argues that there is an increased need for greater awareness, appreciation, and willingness to explore and engage with multiple narratives of truth-telling that are so often contested. Readers are guided to discover how this translates to classroom practice through unique, provocative, and research-informed strategies that foreground applied decolonising approaches.

Combining theoretical perspectives and practical ideas, this book is an essential resource to support pre- and in-service teachers, in all education contexts, in navigating the decolonisation of Australian history education. This makes it an important contribution to local, as well as global, decolonising efforts.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Contributors
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1 The thin veneer of ‘the history wars’ on unceded lands
• Chapter 2 Truth commissions, transitional justice, and history education
• Chapter 3 “Peeling off the final scab of thinking that everything’s fine”: Exposing the poison of Australian education’s colonising history through drama-based learning
• Chapter 4 Challenging the Great Australian Silence
• Chapter 5 Positionality: The foundational threshold concept for decolonising practices
• Chapter 6 Learning, unlearning, and relearning history in early childhood education
• Chapter 7 “Mummy, what did YOU do in the history wars?” White teachers decolonising Australian curriculum…and themselves
• Chapter 8 Acknowledging First Nations perspectives in primary schools
• Chapter 9 Doing intercultural history: A framework for history teachers
• Chapter 10 Examining invasion and possession narratives through Asia-related history
• Chapter 11 Decolonising the teaching of local history using cinematic virtual reality
• Chapter 12 Decolonial futures for history in Australian schools
• Index